In today's economy, companies continually look for ways to generate revenue and increase productivity without increasing the cost of day-to-day operations. It has become common business practice for companies to merge or otherwise acquire other business units in order to streamline, eliminate competitors, and offer diversified services. By diversifying and consolidating, a company may be more competitive in the marketplace. However, as companies consolidate, integration issues can become paramount. For example, each company will most likely have different systems and associated components e.g. network, billing, record maintenance, etc. and other infrastructure which may not mesh with the other system(s) and infrastructure. Correspondingly, each company must become familiar with the different systems in order for the consolidation to be successful.
Likewise, consumers have different opportunities when selecting a company for one or more services. For example, consumers can select from multiple mobile and conventional phone providers for phone services. When deciding to change from one provider to another, it is not uncommon for a consumer to request the assignment of the prior phone number for the new service. This prevents the consumer from the hassle of having to contact all of the various contacts to communicate a changed phone number. A new service provider can appease a new customer by allowing the customer to maintain the same contact information for a new service. However, the consumer appetite seems to be insatiable, and companies continue to look for ways to attract new customers while maintaining goodwill with existing customers.